Congresswoman Gets Death Threats Over Gun Control Bill

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) says she has received multiple death threats over legislation she is working on to make sure gun owners have insurance.

"Yesterday, several death threats were phoned into my New York office in response to news reports about a bill I authored requiring gun owners to have insurance," the congresswoman said in a statement Wednesday morning. "The calls were fielded by young interns, who were understandably shaken by this experience."

Maloney told the New York Daily News that the threats came in three menacing phone calls, which left her so disturbed she ended up missing a planned awards dinner Tuesday night.

"They said they were going to kill me," she told the paper.

She said law enforcement is investigating the matter and so she won't comment further.

In her statement, Maloney said she's proud of her work to stem gun violence and strongly supports President Obama's gun control initiatives. "100,000 Americans are injured by guns every year," she said. "Carrying insurance is the responsible thing to do."

"Given all the acts of gun violence we have seen in the past two years, the shootings in Aurora and Newtown, the attack on my friend and colleague Gabby Gifford (sic), I take the threat of more gun violence very seriously," the congresswoman continued. "But it is not something that I will allow to stop me from doing my work."

About The Author

Sahil Kapur is TPM's senior congressional reporter and Supreme Court correspondent. His articles have been published in the Huffington Post, The Guardian and The New Republic. Email him at sahil@talkingpointsmemo.com and follow him on Twitter at @sahilkapur.